Aside from the constant debacles this administration has presented us with (the Obamacare disaster, Benghazi, Fast and Furious, the IRS and The Tea Party, etc.), there has been something else taking place that is equally frightening and perhaps more definitive of the direction this president is taking us.

For the last several years there has been a steady and distinct purging of America’s armed forces. Students of history are aware of other similar examples within the last 100 years – in Russia, Cuba, Vietnam, and China. Our president has developed an unmistakable “you’re either with us or against us” attitude about ‘his’ new military. He has been systematically eliminating high-ranking officers within all branches of the armed forces who disagreed with his new policies, and only until recently have soldiers and their officers begun to speak out boldly about it. In particular, Medal of Honor recipient Army Maj. General Patrick Brady (retired), who has said that President Obama’s agenda is decimating the morale of the U.S. ranks to the point members no longer feel prepared to fight or have the desire to win.

“There is no doubt he (Obama) is intent on emasculating the military and will fire anyone who disagrees with him over such issues as “homosexuals, women in foxholes, the Obama sequester,” Brady said in a recent interview with the independent news network, WND.

America has never seen a purging of soldiers and officers such as this – a blanket cleansing of ideology, with some of the pertinent undercurrents in criteria being whether or not our ranking officers would order fire on civilians, and acceptance of political correctness in rules of engagement that dramatically affect our ability to win in confrontations.

“We need to realize that this recent assault on the military and veterans is no accident,” Brady added. “It is purposeful. The elite loathe our military, the one sure guarantor of our freedom. These elite – not a shutdown or default – and their assault on the Constitution and our military are the real threat to our future.”

Another outspoken critic of this administration’s actions is Retired Army Lt. Gen. William G. “Jerry” Boykin, who acted as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence for President George W. Bush. He’s concerned with the rate four-star generals are being retired under the Obama administration, adding that colonels who would become generals also are being relieved of duty if they show that they’re not going to support Obama’s agendas, which a number of critics have described as socialist.

“Over the past three years, it is unprecedented for the number of four-star generals to be relieved of duty, and not necessarily relieved for cause,” Boykin said. “I believe there is a purging of the military.” (There have been some 197 senior officers removed in recent years).

There is no speaking your mind in this new armed forces. Just ask Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal who was relieved in 2010 of his command of the International Security Assistance Force and commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan for what has been described as unflattering remarks made about Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials in a Rolling Stone magazine article. The truth is no longer popular. A number of officers have also been removed from command for criticizing Obama over the Benghazi fiasco, and many of these officers are speaking openly and caustically.

Army Major Gen. Ralph Baker was the commander of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, Africa. Baker has contended all along that attack helicopters could have reached the Benghazi consulate in time on the night of the attack, and that Obama deliberately punishes the military family.

“To understand the insufferable assaults on our military and veterans, who should be exempt from political squabbles but are often at the forefront of Obama threats, we need to understand the psyche of the elite in this country led by Obama,” Brady said. “It is no accident that the president used the Obama sequester and shutdown to punish the military family,” he said. “It is part of his DNA. In fact, it is in the psyche of the entire liberal/progressive establishment – the elite.”

Another outspoken officer is Army Major Gen. Paul E. Vallely. The recent WND article from which I have referenced above added this: “The White House won’t investigate its own officials but finds it easy to fire military commanders who have given their lives for their country,” Valley explained. “Obama will not purge a civilian or political appointee if they have bought into Obama’s ideology. The White House protects their own. That’s why they stalled on the investigation into Fast and Furious, Benghazi, and Obamacare. He’s intentionally weakening and gutting our military and the Pentagon, reducing us as a superpower, and anyone in the ranks who disagrees or speaks out is being purged.”

The infamous Karl Marx once said, “History repeats itself: first as tragedy, and second as farce.” Sadly, for this country, we are experiencing both the tragedy and the farce at the same time.

The views and opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the ownership and staff of The Polk County Pulse. Michael Reisig is a freelance writer and published author whose works are reproduced throughout the globe.